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5/22/2013 01:57:00 p.m. -
Reported by
John Bowman

The BBC Three zombie drama In The Flesh has been commissioned for an extended second series, it was announced today.

A three-part serial initially ran in March this year after writer Dominic Mitchell was discovered through the BBC Writersroom competition Northern Voices, and the storyline was developed by the BBC Drama Production team in Salford.

It told of zombie teenager Kieren Walker, played by Luke Newberry, and his reintegration into both the local community and the heart of his family four years after a zombie uprising, with zombies renamed Partially Deceased Syndrome sufferers by the government in the show.

Series two revisits the cauldron of Roarton where the living and the undead have reached a fragile peace. After the shocking events of series one, Kieren is hoping to get on with his second life but the arrival of new and explosive characters throws those plans into disarray. Battle lines are drawn and all will be judged.

Mitchell said:

I am absolutely delighted and thrilled to be given this fantastic opportunity to continue exploring the characters and world of In The Flesh.

Zai Bennett, the controller of BBC Three, commented:

In The Flesh was a fantastically original and engaging drama for BBC Three. I'm delighted Dominic and the team will be able to tell more stories from the riveting characters and engaging world they created.

Kate Harwood, the BBC's Head of Drama, England, added:

It is testament to the brilliant and talented in-house drama team in Salford that In The Flesh has been commissioned as a series. I am immensely proud of Dominic's fantastic writing and can't wait to see how the stories unfold.

The first episode - on Sunday 17th March - gained 793,000 viewers and was the second-highest programme on the digital channel for that week, according to BARB. Episode two didn't make the top 10 but the final episode, on Sunday 31st March, was at number seven with 638,000 viewers.

The new series has been commissioned by Bennett and BBC drama controller Ben Stephenson.
To be made by BBC Drama Production North, with Hilary Martin and ﻿Ann Harrison-Baxter as executive producers, it will be filmed later this year and be broadcast in 2014.

It has not been confirmed yet how many episodes it will comprise, but trade publication Broadcast says it is likely to be up to six episodes long. New writers are expected to come on board for the show alongside Mitchell, who wrote all of the first series.